Lesson 5: Other Valuable Resources
Review
Resources for building a library on a budget, in order of importance:
Study Bibles
Remember that study notes are a commentary on the text, not the inspired text.
Don’t rely on the footnotes until you have dug deeply into the text.
Use the book introductions to provide context.
Use the footnotes to engage with each of the Five Horizons.
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Don’t read them through but turn to them when you meet a word or concept in the Bible that stumps you or that you want to explore further.
Introductions
They will benefit you as a comprehensive education in historical context.
They will benefit you as a map for each book of the Bible.
Lexicons
Don’t look up a definition as soon as you come across a difficult word; do explore the context surrounding that word first, including cross references.
Don’t accept the interpretation of a word as if God inspired the lexicon; do research different possible interpretations.
Don’t just read the gloss at the top of the entry; do engage with the whole entry
Don’t study words as fodder for pride; do study words as fuel for worship.
Online Articles and Videos
Look at trusted sources and podcasts, like the ones listed in the step, and other conservative, evangelical, Reformed organizations.
Sermons
Search on a trusted website for sermons on specific passages.
Make sure the speaker preaches expositionally.
Only listen to a sermon on a specific passage after you have done the first step of Bible study and looked at the Contextual Horizon.